Language, culture, and tradition are three of the greatest difficulties between American and Hmong people. One big problem is language Hmong people speak Hmong, but they do not write or read Hmong well. In addition, many Hmong people cannot speak English. Even if they can understand basic English, they cannot understand specific words, such as medical words. In this story, Lia’s parents could not understand her prescription, so they did not give correct medicines. Then, Lia got worse and worse. Another problem is culture. Hmong people do not have calendar, such as solar calendar and lunar calendar. They measure year by agriculture circle. For example, Lia’s mother was not sure her birthday because Hmong people do not measure year number. However, she was sure her birthday was in October because she remembered that her birthday is in the rice reaping season. According to the example, we can understand they do not have as the same culture as we have. The other problem is tradition. Most of Hmong people believe shamanism. It is a spiritual religion and very important for people. Shamans are intermediaries between the human and sprit worlds and talk with dead people. Shamans also can cure illness and treat patients. If believers get illness, they go to a Shaman’s house, and then they will get some treatment from Shaman. In the Hmong tradition, they only take medicines for a short time. In addition, they do not get surgery to cure their illness. They sometimes take medicines, such as organic medicines, and herbs. Moreover, they cannot understand why they have to take medicines forever to cure their illness. Therefore, Lia’s parents and doctors got big problems about taking medicines.
No comments:
Post a Comment